Add this to the pile  of problems bearing down on the embattled British prime minister this week: a new report that numerous former British military pilots are in China, where they are training Chinese pilots for duty in the People’s Liberation Army. Chinese recruitment of the British pilots, who are reportedly teaching the Chinese how to take down Western fighter jets and helicopters, has apparently taken British officials by surprise. Britain’s defense ministry on Tuesday issued a threat alert to warn its own military against any further approaches from the Chinese.

It is chiefly the lucrative character of those approaches, made through proxy head-hunters in countries as distant as South Africa, that have lured ex-Royal Air Force pilots to Beijing. Sky News’s security editor, Deborah Haynes, first reported that according to one British official some 30 former pilots, mostly of fighter jets and “also some helicopter pilots,” were lured by annual salaries of about $270,000 to decamp to Communist China and train pilots for the PLA. That prompted a retired RAF officer to say of the British pilots, “Wow … that is appalling. What were they thinking?” 

While that question can only be answered on an individual basis, the unidentified British official said that by accepting employment to train Chinese fighter pilots, former British military personnel “are almost certainly enhancing China’s military knowledge and capability.” Because the pilots in question were not in active military service at the time of their engagement with Beijing, they are likely not in breach of Britain’s Official Secrets Act. Once these British citizens have left for China, London has little or no recourse to woo them back. 

A Western official who spoke to Ms. Haynes explained why the matter, which reportedly started with a trickle at the beginning of Britain’s Covid lockdown in late 2019, is only now coming to the fore: “We are taking measures to dissuade current and former pilots from being recruited, and we want to avoid any perception by China that our previous silence on this matter is misinterpreted as our acceptance or approval of this activity.”

While British officials say they unable to put a number on just how many pilots — retired and current — that China is targeting, one did tell Sky that Beijing is “seeking pilots with long-experience of flying British and other NATO warplanes, including the Typhoon and Tornado fighter jets and the Harrier jump jet — which used to operate off British aircraft carriers, to teach its pilots how best to counter their capabilities.”

The disclosures to British media, even if done under the cover of anonymity, point to a growing recognition in the British security establishment of the multipronged threats posed by China. Earlier this month the head of Britain’s cyber intelligence agency, the GCHQ,  Jeremy Fleming, accused China of attempting to “rewrite the rules of international security.” While acknowledging the challenges posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Fleming said it is Beijing’s growing power that is “the national security issue that will define our future.”

As the Sun has reported, Chinese infiltration of the West’s military sector seems to know few bounds, and is “all part of a deliberate effort to supercharge its military modernization.” Chinese military scientists, among others, are routinely targeting the United States and other members of the “Five Eyes,” the intelligence-sharing bloc comprising America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Britain.

As Beijing’s wide-ranging threat posture comes into sharper focus, it may put more pressure on the British leadership to take a more proactive stance of its own to keep predatory Chinese security practices in check. There is mounting criticism of Prime Minister Truss for, among other things, neglecting pressing international matters as Britain’s economic turmoil takes center stage. 

News of Beijing’s slow poach of British air force flight talent comes on the heels of Secretary Blinken’s statement on Monday that China has made a decision to quicken the pace on its plan to seize Taiwan. Speaking at Stanford University, Mr. Blinken said that “instead of sticking with the status quo that was established in a positive way, [Beijing has made] a fundamental decision that the status quo is no longer acceptable, and Beijing is determined to pursue reunification on a much faster timeline.”